The sprintf() function is an inbuilt function in PHP that is used for formatting strings in a manner similar to the C language’s printf() function. It allows you to create formatted strings by substituting placeholders with corresponding values.

Syntax:

string sprintf(string $format, mixed ...$values)

Parameters: This function accepts two parameters that are described below:

• $format: This is a string that specifies the format of the output. It contains placeholders that begin with a percent sign (%) followed by a character representing the type of value that should be inserted at that position.
• $values: These are the values that will replace the placeholders in the format string. You can provide any number of arguments, depending on the number of placeholders in the format string and their types.

Return Values: The sprintf() function returns the string which is produced by this function.

Program 1: The following program demonstrates the sprintf() function.

<?php

$first_name = "Ram";
$last_name = "Kumar";
$age = 28;
$balance = 1200.50;
   
$formatted_string = sprintf(
      "Name: %s %s\nAge: %d\nBalance: $%.2f", 
      $first_name, $last_name, $age, $balance
);
   
echo $formatted_string;   

?>

Name: Ram Kumar
Age: 28
Balance: $1200.50

Program 2: The following program demonstrates the sprintf() function.

<?php
   
$product = "Widget";
$quantity = 10;
$pricePerUnit = 24.95;
   
$totalPrice = $quantity * $pricePerUnit;
   
$formatted_invoice = sprintf(
      "Invoice:\nProduct: %s\nQuantity: %d\nPrice"
      . " per Unit: $%.2f\nTotal Price: $%.2f", 
      $product, $quantity, 
      $pricePerUnit, $totalPrice
);
   
echo $formatted_invoice;   

?>

Invoice:
Product: Widget
Quantity: 10
Price per Unit: $24.95
Total Price: $249.50

Program 3: In this example we iterates through an array of products, formatting and printing them as a table with aligned columns using sprintf() for string formatting.

<?php
   $products = [
    ["name" => "Laptop", "price" => 999.99, "quantity" => 2],
    ["name" => "Smartphone", "price" => 599.99, "quantity" => 3],
    ["name" => "Headphones", "price" => 99.99, "quantity" => 5],
];

// Print table headers
echo sprintf("| %-15s | %-10s | %-8s |\n", "Product", "Price", "Quantity");
echo "---------------------------------------\n";

foreach ($products as $product) {
  echo sprintf("| %-15s | $%-9.2f | %-8d |\n", $product['name'], $product['price'], $product['quantity']);
}
  echo "---------------------------------------\n";
?>

Output

| Product         | Price      | Quantity |
---------------------------------------
| Laptop          | $999.99    | 2        |
| Smartphone      | $599.99    | 3        |
| Headphones      | $99.99     | 5        |
---------------------------------------

Reference: https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.sprintf.php